What I'm Worth
by TecnoFan34
Summary: AU Story. When Tecna accepts a job teaching math to chaotic kids, what she soon realizes is that the man offering to give her a place to stay has actually illegally imported her from Zenith. After running away with a shattered sense of value, Tecna finds herself in the gentle, loving care of a ginger haired stranger with red rimmed glasses. Can he fix her shattered glass?
1. Drastic Changes

**This little thought of a fanfiction has been hiding on my iPad for the longest time. Though I was kinda debating whether to post it because I have The Secrets We Keep on the go and I really wanted to work on that too. But working on the same thing all the time can get boring. So here goes everything!**

* * *

 **Chapter One: Drastic Changes**

In the advanced technological realm of Zenith, living in its capital city was a young woman named Tecna. She was greatly respected and appreciated in the city, working as a software programmer for the realm's major computer company. She made a modest living and had no trouble making ends meet, everything seemed perfect. Tecna had the job of her dreams and was living in a high tech loft in Downtown Zenith with neighbours who talked to her every day and greeted her with cheerful smiles. That is until one day she was offered a job teaching young children the fundamentals of math, it wasn't as highly paid as her current job, but it did give her an opportunity for a change, and she did like the idea of giving back to her community, doing good things in society, so she accepted. Tecna relocated to a small town on the outskirts of Zenith's capital city, believing that this would be a new experience for herself, unfortunately when she met her new boss, who offered to give her a place to stay, she was in for a huge surprise. Once she reached the town, she used what little money she had to get a taxi to the place she thought she'd be living in while she worked. Walking up to the house with her suitcase in hand, she took a deep breath, unaware of what lies underneath the surface. Tecna knocked on the door and a tall, middle aged man with dark blue hair and cold silver eyes opened it.

"Hello, my name is Tecna, my boss from Zenith City sent me here for the teaching position you were offering." She began, extending her hand for him to shake it.

"Listen here, everyone believes that I brought you here for a paying job, with benefits like a home and food to eat. What they don't know is that I illegally imported you from the city. Not even your boss knows he's been tricked. I've got the papers right here that state that once you set foot in this town, you're mine." The man confessed without a single ounce of compassion in his voice.

"What, how long are you able to get away with that?" Tecna asked, unsure of what would happen to her next.

"For as long as I can." He chuckled with a hint of wickedness in his tone. The tech savvy young woman turned away immediately.

"Well I want no part of this, I'm going back to Zenith City and reporting you to the authorities. I hope you get locked up for a long time, before someone else gets into your clutches." She raised her voice, but as she was about to walk away, both her arms were grabbed forcefully and pulled behind her back. The man pushed her into his home so that there were no bystanders watching, and once they were inside, he used one hand to bound her arms behind her, and the other tightened around her neck. It was so tight that she was quickly losing breath.

"Say one word about this to anyone, and this'll be the last breath you ever take." Was his threat, whispered in her ear. His grasp continued to tighten around her neck, and soon her vision faded, and she drifted into unconsciousness.

* * *

Opening her eyes, Tecna's surroundings became clear to her after a moment. She could still feel the tight grasp of the man's hands on her throat, and took in a deep, relieving breath of air. Sitting up she noticed that she had been laying on an old, torn up mattress on the floor of a dark room with no windows. The only things provided for her were the belongings she packed from her home in Capital Zenith, which wasn't much considering she was told that everything would be provided for her, and a tattered blanket. She looked around, finally getting her vision, and noticed a door on the opposite side of the room.

"Logically he wouldn't just toss me in here and not have the door locked." She observed quietly, "if I can't escape, I'll have to send a message from my prison." And so, she took out all her devices, her palmtop, cellphone, anything that could send and receive a signal. After a few minutes of booting up her palmtop, she soon realized that there was no way to get any WiFi connection or cellphone reception, the walls of the room were just too thick for anything to get through.

"I suppose he's thought of everything, hasn't he." She sighed, "I can't even send an email to my boss." Suddenly there was a click, and the door unlocked.

"Just be grateful you have some electric outlets for those useless gadgets of yours." The man told her, "here, your dinner for the night." And with that, he threw a stale half loaf of bread at her feet and closed the door, locking it once again. Tecna stared at her meal for moments before she ran to the door, yelling at the top of her lungs.

"This is total abuse, I'll make sure that you get sent away for a very long time for this!" She screamed, though there was no response from the other side, it was silent. Turning back to the mattress that would be her bed for the foreseeable future, and the bit of old bread on the ground, she sat there, slowly nibbling away at it. She wasn't one to get emotional in troubling situations, she was the one who came up with a logical solution and a plan to carry it out. Though this was different than any other experience she'd ever come up against. Tecna never knew she'd be held against her will, deprived of a decent meal and a warm, cozy bed. She never thought that within the last twenty four hours, her life would go from absolutely perfect, bright and cheerful, to dark and uncertain. It went by so fast she didn't know what to make of it. As time passed and the air became cooler, she could feel the night wind blowing from underneath the crack in the door. She knew the torn up blanket wasn't going to prove very effective from sparing her protection from the cold. However it was everything she had, and she would have to make due with what she had. Even if Tecna had a strong head on her shoulders, this new environment wasn't just going to take a toll on her physically, but soon her emotions and self worth would dissipate as well. She was looking forward to escaping to see if the school would be a more positive surrounding for her, unfortunately these young students were not exactly willing to learn, especially anything as challenging as mathematics.

* * *

 **Geez I got watery eyed just reading this. I'm a horrible person.**


	2. Disruptive Third Graders

**Here is where you'll finally get to see exactly how horrible the teachers of this third grade class have been treated prior to Tecna. I have no idea why I came up with this plot to have the principal of the school not even care about his students or faculty, does sound kinda messed up but it makes for a good premise.**

* * *

 **Chapter Two: Disruptive Third Graders**

Early the next morning, Tecna was rudely awakened by the door in the locked room swinging open abruptly, revealing the man who held her captive. She snapped her attention towards him once she was wide awake, not even bothering to check what time it was.

"Okay, today is your first day of teaching those students, hopefully you will be able to put them in line." He told her fiercely.

"Put them in line.., dare I ask why?" She hesitated, she herself didn't dare ask and only wanted to figure out on her own, however just to get herself prepared for the day ahead, she asked anyway.

"Those third graders are quite the handful, you'll find out exactly what I mean when you get there." The man explained without any further detail, "Now get ready, and here is breakfast." From his hands, he threw a bruised and brown apple at her feet that would probably cause her to vomit if she attempted a bite of it. She looked at it skeptically only before looking back up at her captor.

"Are you seriously expecting me to eat that?" She questioned defiantly.

"It's either that apple, or you can starve." He threatened with venom in his voice.

"Logically, starving would actually save my life." She spat, and in a split second, Tecna was grabbed by the wrist from where she had stood up from her place on the torn up mattress and thrown clear across the room. The impact was so rough that when she landed, she hit her head on the floor. Slowly gaining her bearings once more, she ran her fingers over strands of her magenta hair to feel for any signs of blood, surprisingly and reassuringly, there was none.

"Speak to me like that again, and that's exactly what's going to happen." He continued his threat, "I'll be back in fifteen minutes to bring you to the school, I want to make sure you don't try anything to escape." The door slammed shut once more, and after the final click of the lock, Tecna got up from her fallen position on the floor and found her cellphone beside the mattress. Looking at it, she soon found out that it was only six thirty in the morning, what possible reason would this man have for getting her to the school an hour before the students even arrived for classes? It didn't matter, because with all her logical thinking still intact, it was her only means of survival at this point, she would have to be stone cold, showing no emotion. She would be extremely hurt on the inside but she would not let it be expressed, it would keep her alive. She quickly got dressed into her purple turtleneck vest, matching skirt and tights and her pink knee high wedged boots, and fixed her hair as best she could. Within that time, the man came back, and she was standing straight up tall, ready for anything. She didn't say a thing as he roughly pushed her towards his car and sat her in the back seat. Once they got to the school, he took her by the hand, as if all the abuse, all the threats, had barely existed. Tecna knew full well that what he was doing to her was not right, but there was nothing she could do to stop it. Obviously he would make sure that someone would be watching her throughout the whole day to prevent her from making an escape, and ruining any opportunity she got to do so.

"Now, I'll be introducing you to the principal of the school before he shows you to the third grade classroom. There you'll be able to look over the lesson plan before the students come." He explained as if he hadn't threatened to starve her not even an hour ago. She just nodded in response, not wanting to cause a scene and call him out on his actions. Though the magenta haired technological genius was buying her time, she knew that his uppance will come. As they entered the principal's office, another man wearing a dark business suit and tie walked over to them. His expression was dead serious and slightly intimidating to the young woman, honestly more intimidating than the man holding her hostage.

"Mr. Ansel, I see you have another worthless attempt at a teacher for these unruly students." He began, "Honestly she looks even more pathetic than the last person you showed me."

"Principal Unix, I'd like you to meet Miss Tecna Logiqua, straight from the capital city of Zenith. I choose her because she was an honoured employee of a major computer and electronics company there. Her intelligence and logical skills have brought them to the very top, teaching a class full of undisciplined third graders should be child's play compared to her regular job. In fact she wanted to do this for a little bit of community service, though she is getting paid of course." That was indeed a complete lie, he had no intention of paying her for this at all, and knowing this she had every right to back out of the offer, the only thing stopping her from doing so was that her life was on the line.

"Greetings, Miss Logiqua, it is a pleasure, I do hope you are as good as Mr. Ansel says." The principal took her hand, formally shaking it.

"That's has yet to be seen," Tecna answered evenly, "they are only third grade students after all, how chaotic can they possibly be?"

"Well, I will leave you to discuss matters further, and I will see you tonight then, Tecna." Mr. Ansel suddenly exited the office, and Principal Unix's expression changed from that of a pprofessional businessman to one of pure authority.

"Don't think I don't know exactly what is going on behind closed doors, you are not to leave that classroom for any reason, not even for a lunch break. Mr. Ansel has brought me numerous others who tried getting out and I knew exactly how they'd do it too, I'm one step ahead of you." He began.

"Don't you think it's wrong for him to be abusing the people he's sending you? Don't you think you could be reporting him?" Tecna asked.

"I am a principal of a school, I am not allowed to meddle in the lives of my coworkers, what happens at home is none of my concern." He explained, "but what I do to you here is under my control. And another thing, I don't want to have kids be sent down to my office because of spitballs in your hair or trying to sneak back their confiscated cellphones. That's your problem, not mine."

"This is completely disorganized and unprofessional!" Tecna protested, "Are all the teachers in this school being treated so poorly?"

"They managed to have much more well behaved students, and are able to put their foot down when needed." Principal Unix pointed out, "I've never met anyone who could get through to those third graders. Now I'll show you where you'll be spending the day." So he led her down the corridor towards the end of the school that was designated for the younger students, there was the third grade classroom. Tecna immediately familiarized herself with the surroundings, finding all possible places of organization and where everything belonged. Principal Unix had left her to do her work and prepare for the upcoming day.

* * *

It was about a quarter after eight when the students began piling rambunctiously into the room, pushing and shoving each other to get to their desired seat. However even when they were seated, some were still pestering each other and others continued texting on their cellphones even after they had entered the classroom. Hearing all the commotion, Tecna abruptly stood up, sounding a timer on her own cellphone to get the class's attention before turning it off completely and putting it in a drawer in her desk.

"Good morning," she began with slight hesitation, "My name is Miss Logiqia, and I'll be your new teacher until further notice. Now, as I did with my own, will everyone who still has their cellphones out, please hand them to me. You'll get them back at the end of the day." Tecna had a spark of confidence in her that she never thought she would have based on what she was told about these kids. She went around the room, but just as expected, the students were trying everything they could not to obey her orders. One of them hid his phone in his desk once she was in view of him, but she was definitely observant enough to know he had it.

"I know you were texting earlier, I saw you had your phone out. Where is it?" She asked.

"Why should I give it to you, it's mine, you can't take possession of it." The boy protested.

"I'm not, you'll get it back at the end of class." She prompted, then spotted the mobile device in the cubby hole of the desk, "There it is." Once again, the student refused to give it to her. She had no choice, she quickly took the cellphone and walked on, collecting all the mobile devices in the room. As Tecna reached the front of the classroom, the students began harassing each other, girls pulling each other's hair, boys playfully punching each other in the arms and shoulders. She had to get the class's attention once more.

"All right then, if this is going to continue, I'm going to have to separate some of you." She instructed, "You can switch with the girl on the other side of the room, and you can take his seat." There was no movement amongst the students, they simply refused to listen.

"You can't make us!" One of the girls yelled out. Tecna was just getting more and more frustrated by the moment, these kids weren't getting anywhere, the lesson hadn't even started and she was beginning to see what the principal meant when he said they were unruly.

"This is a place of learning, that is what you are sent here to do. So far there has been nothing but disorder and inefficiency. Now if we all want to get through the day as fast as possible, then there has to be some kind of cooperation." Tecna responded with as much of an even tone of voice as she possibly could. The students who were instructed to move did, and opened up their books, as did everyone else. As Tecna began displaying her name on a projection screen before her, the class stared up at her, bored. During the lesson, she was so distracted by teaching, and the fact that she had no decent source of nourishment since she got to the small town, that she barely noticed a small wad of paper hit her in the back of the head. Ignoring it, she continued her lesson, turning to face the class. Suddenly another small wad of paper hit her in the forehead, this time she felt for it, only to discover it was indeed a spitball. She immediately searched for the one on the back of her head as well and wiped her fingers clean with tissue paper. Nothing seemed to phase her as she resumed displaying questions on the projection screen for the class to start their work.

"Now that you know how to answer these questions, I'll give you ten minutes to complete the ones here. I'll be able to help if you need it." Tecna told them, although she knew they wouldn't even dare ask for help from her. As she watched the class work, a third spitball reached the top of her head and she snapped her attention towards the source. Walking towards the desk, she noticed that no one was sitting there, and when she returned to the front of the classroom, the culprit was sneaking towards the front desk and into the drawer where she kept the cellphones.

"I was prepared for something like this," she whispered to the boy from earlier, "Back to your seat." For the rest of the class, there were numerous attempts from other students to retrieve their cellphones, and some of them even managed to steal them back. By the end of the day, Tecna had enough, and was about to lose it, though she would have to wait until she was in solitude to do so.

* * *

 **Next chapter, Timmy makes his first appearance.**


	3. Undercover Cousins

**Chapter Three: Undercover Cousins**

On the other side of the small town, living in a homy duplex, a young man was informed of unfortunate events involving his younger cousin. A few days ago he received a phone call from his aunt and uncle asking him to take on a great responsibility, due to what had happened, the young man's cousin needed to be relocated to the care of another relative for her own safety. So, that night, there was a light knock on the door, and just as expected, an eight year old girl with neck length ginger hair stood there with a huge duffle bag. Over the course of the last few days in order to prepare for her arrival, the young man was given the money to at least give her a good start at a new life. He already enrolled his cousin in the elementary school in town so she could immediately start the next morning and not have to miss anything. The girl looked very tired after traveling for such a long time, but her face immediately brightened when she saw her older cousin.

"Timmy, thank you for letting me live with you until my parents are safe again." She began, spreading her arms out for a loving hug as her older cousin knelt down to receive it, "I honestly can't tell you exactly what happened, it was too much of a blur."

"It's all right, Casey, your parents gave me all the details they could before going into hiding." Timmy reassured his younger cousin, placing hands on her shoulders. Timmy brought her luggage into the house and got her set up in the spare room that used to be his home office. Now he had to make due with using a corner of the living room for his computer space. During dinner that night, he gave Casey a heads up on what was going to happen the next day.

"I've already enrolled you in the elementary school here in the third grade class, though based on the constant buzz going around, they had to go through a lot of different teachers." He told her, "I didn't get a very good look at what the third grade class would be like but from what I heard the other students are not cooperative at all."

"I've always been taught from my parents that if you're going to go to school, you're there to learn, if not you can go home and waste your time there." She replied over a warm spoonful of mashed potatoes, and Timmy just smiled at his younger cousin, she was so bright and her parents raised her well.

* * *

The next morning was about a week or so after Tecna started teaching the third grade class, and once Timmy brought Casey in and signed some final paperwork to have her enrolled in the class, Principal Unix took the two cousins down to the classroom. The principal knocked on the door, and a greeting of approval to enter came from the other side. Timmy's eyes widened at the chaotic mess of the classroom and the principal's obvious nonchalant response to it. The room was cluttered with the students' belongings, coats were on the floor, cellphones out in the open, some being used by kids despite the fact that the principal of the school himself was present. Spitballs and tissue paper wads hung from the ceiling, practically dropping down in to Tecna's hair from time to time, that of which she tried desperately to ignore by simply flicking the ones she noticed out with her fingers, and as for the ones unattended, unfortunately she didn't seem to spot them until they ended up stuck to her pillow that night. The poor woman had to stay there for hours after class let out just to scrape the dried up spitballs off the ceiling and restore the classroom to its rightful order for the next day, only for it to be in vein within just seconds the next morning. Timmy continued to look around the room at the disorganization and lack of discipline that was clearly demonstrated, the principal didn't even say a thing to bring order to the class, and he was the highest authority there was. However this did not deter the young man from leaving his cousin in this situation, knowing Casey was brighter and much more passionate about learning than any of these other kids. Timmy was fairly confident that she wouldn't be torn down by their lack of respect. However, just for a split moment, the ginger haired man's eyes met the teacher's gaze, and she could sense the heat of embarrassment rush to her cheeks. Her face, hair and clothes were completely covered in spitballs and, to his astonishment, egg yolk. Her hair was tangled, her clothes were filthy and there were dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep. And Tecna could guarantee that there was no doubt in her mind she smelled to high hell from only having one or two showers since the first day she was held hostage. The most distressing thing, by the brief glance Timmy gave her, was that he could see she was obviously being starved, the look in her eyes told him that she was fighting desperately to keep her strength up and to not collapse right in the middle of teaching her lesson.

"Good morning Miss Logiqua, students," Principal Unix addressed them with complete obliviousness to what was going on around him, "There will be a new student joining your class, I'd like you all to meet Casey." The young girl just waved in response before looking up at her cousin with an uncertain expression on her face.

"Excuse us, may we talk in the hall for a minute before I leave?" Timmy asked the principal casually, but there was nothing casual about this situation at all. Principal Unix approved as the two cousins departed from the classroom momentarily. Once out in the hallway, they weren't sure who was going to say anything first.

"Did you not see the disorganization and chaos in that room?" Casey protested, "You can't be serious leaving me with those other students, can you?"

"I know, and when I enrolled you, I did not expect this either," Timmy admitted quietly, " Something is definitely wrong with this picture, did you see how the teacher looked, there is no way a normal school would ever allow a faculty member to look so unkempt, and the principal didn't even say a thing. Listen Casey, I want you to be my eyes on the inside, tell me everything that went on today when you get home. We might have to handle this situation very delicately."

"But Timmy, why are we getting involved, I mean what if there is nothing we've can do?" Casey inquired.

"You and I both know that the way this woman is being treated is not right, and possibly against the law. If we can get proof that she is being abused, if we can speak up when no one else has, we'll be giving her back her dignity." Timmy explained, and with a quick nod of understanding, the cousins returned to the classroom.

"Please find a seat there Casey." Principal Unix instructed kindly to her, she found a spot near the front so she would be able to watch Tecna closely, both for her own purpose of learning, and to be Timmy's spy on the inside. As she sat down, though, she immediately got up to pick off a disgustingly fresh wad of chewing gum off the seat of her pants.

"Gross." She whispered to herself while Timmy left with the principal, and the lesson resumed.

* * *

As the ginger haired young man was being escorted back to his vehicle in the parking lot, he had the burning urge for ask the principal the question to start all questions.

"Weren't you going to do something about those kids, they were clearly misbehaving," Timmy began, "and do you think that Miss Logiqua is obviously being abused, and you're just going to allow that?"

"Young man, you just concern yourself with your cousin," the principal insisted firmly, with a slight hint of darkness to his tone, "what happens to Miss Logiqua behind closed doors is none of my business, if she can't manage those students, that really isn't my problem."

"You're the principal of this school, don't you think you should be a little concerned about how your classes are being kept?" Timmy felt the need to probe just a bit more, Principal Unix's blatant disregard for his concerns made him scratch his chin with puzzlement.

"I think you should leave now." The principal just spoke evenly without a raised tone, "Your constant questioning is going to cost your little cousin a spot in this school, so I suggest you stay out of this." Did the principal of an elementary school, someone who is suppose to be looking out for the education and wellbeing of children, just threaten him? Obviously no harm has been done to the students of the third grade class, so it wasn't like Casey's safety was at stake, but her education was definitely on the line, and Timmy did not like the look of this situation one bit.


End file.
